The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was created by the Department ofTransportation Act of 1966. It is one of ten agencies within the U.S. Department ofTransportation concerned with intermodal transportation. FRA promotes safe,environmentally sound, successful railroad transportation to meet the needs of all customers today and tomorrow.

FRA's Office of Railroad Safety promotes and regulates safety throughout the Nation's railroad industry. The office executes its regulatory and inspection responsibilities through a diverse staff of railroad safety experts.

The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for working with stakeholders to develop cohesive goals and policies for maintaining and improving the U.S. freight and passenger rail networks. This section covers various efforts across America and the world in helping to deliver safe, reliable, and efficient rail transportation.

FRA Research & Development (R&D) projects contribute to the FRA's safety regulatory processes, to railroad suppliers, to railroads involved in the transportation of freight, intercity passengers, commuters, and to railroad employees and their labor organizations.

In this section, we provide descriptions and comprehensive, official sources for FRA's regulations (also called rules), selected legislation, as well as policy and guidance documents. Additionally, you will find current topics of high interest or significant impact to Congress, railroads, employees, labor, public interest groups and other stakeholders.

FRA supports passenger and freight railroading through a variety of competitive grant, dedicated grant, and loan programs to develop safety improvements, relieve congestion, and encourage the expansion and upgrade of passenger and freight rail infrastructure and services. FRA also provides training and technical assistance to grantees and stakeholders.

Railroad Rehabilitation & Repair (Disaster Assistance)

Purpose

The Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 110-329, September 30, 2008), provides the Secretary of Transportation $20,000,000 for necessary expenses to make grants to repair and rehabilitate Class II and Class III railroad infrastructure damaged by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters in areas for which the President declared a major disaster under Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974. These funds are to remain available until expended and are to be awarded to States on a competitive, case-by-case basis.

Eligibility

Under this Program, a State may apply for a grant from the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to cover up to 80% of the cost of a project to repair and rehabilitate Class II and Class II railroad infrastructure damaged by hurricanes, floods, and natural disasters, provided that the infrastructure is located in a county that has been identified in a Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance issued by the President (http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema#sev1). Class II and Class III railroad infrastructure eligible for repair and rehabilitation consists of railroad rights-of-way, bridges, signals and other infrastructure that are part of the general railroad system of transportation and primarily used by railroads to move freight traffic. At least 20% of the cost of eligible repair and rehabilitation projects must be covered by non-Federal sources in the form of cash, equipment, or supplies. Section 24312 (Labor Standards) of Title 49, United States Code, applies to grantees assisted under this Program.

The grantees must exhaust all other Federal and State resources prior to seeking assistance under this Program. For FY 2008, Congress appropriated $20,000,000 in Federal funds for this program. The Act allows the Secretary to retain up to one-half of 1 percent of the funds (up to $100,000) to fund the oversight by the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration of the design and implementation of projects funded by these grants. The funding provided for these grants will be made available to the grantee(s) on a reimbursable basis.

Third Solicitation of Applications

FRA issued a $1.87 million Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), inviting state departments of transportation to apply for grants to rehabilitate Class II and Class III railroad infrastructure damaged by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters in areas for which the President declared a major disaster after January 1, 2008. Since 2008, FRA has obligated 21 grants to states under the program, covering up to 80 percent of project costs, and made available to affected railroads on a reimbursable basis. Prospective grantees must exhaust all other Federal and State resources prior to seeking assistance under this program. Any repairs made must be improvements for rights-of-way, bridges, signals, and other general rail system infrastructure primarily used to move freight traffic. The FRA will accept grant applications for the NOFA from November 6 until December 9, 2013.